The Babysitter at Rest (Guidance-The Party; Take Care of Me Forever; Futures in Child Rearing; Instruction)

Five stories, several as long as novellas, introduce the world to Jen George, a writer whose furiously imaginative new voice calls to mind Donald Barthelme and Leonora Carrington as much as Kathy Acker and Chris Kraus. I had to judge a story contest of 600+ anonymous stories and I read each one and without hesitation Jen Georges story was my favourite. Im so happy this collection exists. I feel drunk with love for these stories. Theyre so funny and weird and true.Sheila Heti With a weird, beautiful energy, George explores the challenges of woman-being: singlehood, self-doubt, motherhood, the dismaying fact of aging, the (dis)ability to love. A modern-day Jane Bowles, George engages these mysteries in prose that is funny, charming, dark, and insightful. Deb Olin Unferth Five storiesseveral as long as novellasintroduce the world to Jen George, a writer whose furiously imaginative new voice calls to mind Donald Barthelme and Leonora Carrington no less than Kathy Acker and Chris Kraus. In Guidance/The Party, an ethereal alcoholic Guide in robes and flowing hair appears to help a thirty-three-year-old woman prepare a party for her belated adulthood; Take Care of Me Forever tragically lambasts the medical profession as a ship of fools afloat in loneliness and narcissism; Instruction chronicles a season in an unconventional art school called The Warehouse, where students divide their time between orgies, art critiques, and burying dead racehorses. Combining slapstick, surrealism, erotica, and social criticism, Jen Georges sprawling creative energy belies the secret precision and unexpected tenderness of everything she writes. Fiction. Five stories--several as long as novellas--introduce the world to Jen George, a writer whose furiously imaginative new voice calls to mind Donald Barthelme and Leonora Carrington no less than Kathy Acker and Chris Kraus. In "Guidance/The Party," an ethereal alcoholic "Guide" in robes and flowing hair appears to help a thirty-three-year-old woman prepare a party for her belated adulthood; "Take Care of Me Forever" tragically lambastes the medical profession as a ship of fools afloat in loneliness and narcissism; "Instruction" chronicles a season in an unconventional art school called The Warehouse, where students divide their time between orgies, art critiques, and burying dead racehorses. Combining slapstick, surrealism, erotica, and social criticism, Jen George's sprawling creative energy belies the secret precision and unexpected tenderness of everything she writes